\b0 Born in \b \ATXul1024 \cf4 \ATXht256 Nantes\b0 \ATXul0 \cf0 \ATXht0 in 1828 to a family of la
wyers and ship-owners, Jules Verne discovered his vocation for writing while studying law in Paris. An enthusiast for progress in the sciences and fascinated by distant horizons, he invented a new literary genre, a new literature of journeys in which tec
hnical developments, whether already achieved or to come in the future, play a primary role. With the support of the publisher Hetzel, he embarked on a prolific career and published, between 1863 and his death in 1905, over a hundred books. The best know
n of these were written early on (his vision of humanity grew more pessimistic in the closing years of the century): \i Cinq semaines en ballon\i0 (\i Fives Week in a Balloan\i0 ) (1863), \i Vingt mille lieues sous les mers\i0 (\i Twenty Thousand Leagu
es Under the Sea\i0 ) (1869), and \i Le tour du monde en quatre-vingt jours\i0 (\i Around the World in Eighty Days\i0 ) (1873).\par
